As is developed in detail in our prior co-pending application, the gun/magazine system of that invention uses a magazine wherein the cartridges are fed therethrough in a spiral path around an elongated axis, and then exit in directions radial to the axis at one end of the magazine. Grooves are provided on the inside of the magazine to guide the cartridges around a central member and from one end to the other (exit) end. The invention of that system uses an unprecedented large capacity magazine, and the present invention is directed towards the manufacture of that magazine, and more particularly to the manufacture of the external shell thereof. The internal working parts do not form a part of the present invention, and complete disclosure thereof can be found in our prior co-pending application.
Good quality plastics adequate to meet the demands of the present invention are commercially available. It is highly desirable to make the invention ammunition magazine from plastic because of the advantages of lower cost, lighter weight, resistance to bending and denting, and other advantages well known to those skilled in these arts and as discussed in our prior co-pending application. At present, a certain nylon called Minlon (TM) by DuPont has been used to make the invention magazine. Conventional injection molding techniques will be employed.
While these materials are capable of very fine definition, and while molding techniques used with these materials are also capable of holding close tolerances, the problem in the prior art is that the invention magazine requires a great deal of detail, especially as to the screw threads, on the inside of surfaces thereof, and this is in addition to the need to hold close tolerances on those parts as well as various other parts of the magazine.
The invention is directed primarily towards improved techniques and features in such a magazine which will permit manufacture of such magazines in a highly efficient manner, at reduced costs, using conventional materials and techniques, while holding the necessary tolerances and qualities to provide a fully satisfactory plastic ammunition magazine housing.